The invention concerns an apparatus for removing view-obstructing materials from a transparent surface, and is particularly suited for applications in open cockpit racing during wet-weather driving conditions, and for general applications in the fields where removal of view-obstructing substances from a surface of view enabling apparatuses (such as a visor of a helmet, or a lens of a camera) is desired.
In open cockpit racing, typically drivers wear helmets with transparent visors. Of course these races take place outdoors, and are rarely stopped due to wet weather conditions. During the races that take place in wet weather conditions, serious vision impairment occurs, especially at lower speeds, due to a combination of rain, and resulting tire spray from the vehicle ahead, that accumulate on the visor of a driver""s helmet.
Conventional solutions include chemical products such as xe2x80x9cRainXxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cAnti-Fogxe2x80x9d which are applied to the surface of the visor, and xe2x80x9cTearawaysxe2x80x9d, which are just multiply layers of transparent plastic placed on the surface of a visor and torn away one layer at a time as build-up of obstructing material necessitates. In extreme wet weather conditions, a rag or towel taped to the back of the driver""s hand is used to wipe off vision impairing build-up.
These conventional solutions suffer various drawbacks. For example, chemicals such as xe2x80x9cRainXxe2x80x9d require high speed to be effective. The xe2x80x9cTearawaysxe2x80x9d and the rag distract the driver because not only is the driver""s vision temporarily obscured by the tearing or the wiping motion, but also the driver must let go of the steering wheel with at least one hand. This heightens safety concerns for the drivers and the spectators.
In other applications, such as television cameras which may be used to film sporting events, clear plastic covers, and umbrella-like arrangements are conventionally employed. Such conventional remedies are often inefficient, cumbersome, and not very effective especially in extreme wet-weather conditions.
The invention solves the above-identified problems by providing a system and a method capable of removing view-obstructing moisture, or build-up, from a surface by delivering air at high velocity to the surface which is exposed to the moisture and/or is susceptible to such view-obstructing build-up. The system is arranged such than the view is not obstructed at any time during the moisture or build-up removal, and requires minimal, if any, action on the part of the user of the inventive system to perform the moisture or built-up removal. While the inventive system is fully capable of removing the moisture or buildup on its own, in an advantageous embodiment of the system, it can be used in conjunction with other conventional devices, such as those mentioned above.